The Scotiabank Giller Prize, the $100,000 behemoth fiction prize that honours the finest in Canadian prose each year, has announced its 2017 12-title longlist, which includes five books published by independent publishing houses, two literary debuts (Peterson and Winters), and two collections of short fiction. It's a varied and interesting list drawing praise from some members of the Canadian literary community, where concern had recently been expressed about newly tightened guidelines allowing publishers to submitted fewer books to the prize for consideration.

The list also features some familiar names, such as Michael Redhill, David Chariandy, and UK-based Rachel Cusk, each of whom have been nominated for the Giller previously.

The longlist for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize is:

David Chariandy for his novel Brother, published by McClelland & Stewart

Rachel Cusk for her novel Transit, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

David Demchuk for his novel The Bone Mother, published by ChiZine Publications